As an immigrant from the
former Soviet Union and a naturalized citizen of the United States of
America I was dismayed and disconcerted to hear of the conviction of
Colorado activist Rick Stanley. The obscenity that was his trial and
the travesty that was his outcome have brought me to an inexorable conclusion:

The United States today
is hurtling toward the kind of tyranny my parents took me away from
when I was a child.

They took me away from
a place where individuals didn’t matter – just the collective,
foul whole. They brought me to a place where we are now seeing the destruction
of an individual – his rights, his life and his freedom.

They took me from a place
where people had to depend on the state to protect and provide for them
– a task at which the state failed miserably. They brought me
to a place where the state is now attempting to force the people to
cede the accountability for their own safety to the government.

They saved me from a place
where one person’s rights were sacrificed at the altar of “the
common good.” They brought me to a country that is now silent
on the sacrifice of Rick Stanley at the altar of state control.

Why am I reacting so viscerally
to Rick Stanley’s plight?

Because this situation
sets a dangerous precedent for the freedom of every citizen of the United
States.

Because I can see the state
bullying one courageous man – not to attain justice, for justice
has certainly not been served by persecuting and incarcerating a husband,
father and grandfather for protesting a clearly unconstitutional regulation
– but to prove the state’s superiority over the individual.

Because I see the “authorities”
– sad mediocre bureaucrats – wielding their power over the
individual to show off their might, throwing their weight around to
make an example of a single human being, shrieking shrilly, “Don’t
mess with us!”

Your Honor, the absurdity
and unlawfulness of Denver’s “home rule” with regard
to the Second Amendment is not in question. The Bill of Rights is part
of the Constitution, which is the Law of the Land. It is not a buffet
from which localities can choose which rights they will “allow”
the citizens to exercise. The rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights
are endemic to being free men. They are not granted by the government,
for they are not the government’s to grant. They, therefore, cannot
be legally infringed upon by any one locality.

Rick Stanley challenged
a fraudulent, corrupt law that turned him and other Denver residents
into sub-citizens, less than Americans, unguarded, unshielded and unprotected
by the Law of the Land – a law designed to guarantee and protect
their existing basic rights as human beings and free men.

And Rick Stanley reacted
with justifiable anger to a pair of unlawful, spurious convictions.

For those actions, Rick
Stanley could spend years in prison. YEARS – for understandable
rage at what he saw as cold, calculated, sick infringement upon his
rights as a free American and as a human being.

Would you really castigate
a man for this?

Would you really make an
example of a human being whose only “crime” was fury at
an injustice that sought to take away his basic rights and force him
to bow to an unreasonable and unconstitutional regulation?

Would you really penalize
a man for standing up for his rights, for fighting a perversion of justice
and for expressing ferocity and passion at the mere thought of that
perversion being allowed to stand?

Your Honor, you may not
like Rick Stanley. You may not appreciate his fervor, understand his
anger or agree with his tactics. You may even consider him an extremist.

But the beauty of freedom
and justice is that they exist for everyone – even those whom
individuals in power may not like.

The ugliness of tyranny
is that it would arbitrarily choose which individuals merit justice.

Part of the magnificence
of freedom and justice is that they are blind.

Part of the viciousness
of tyranny is that it allows those in power to grant that which is not
theirs to give.

Tyranny doesn’t care
about right and wrong. It doesn’t care about values, freedoms,
rights or integrity. Tyranny wants power over others and wields it mercilessly.

Sentence Rick Stanley harshly,
and you will be handing tyranny a victory. Incarcerate him for righteous
anger at his plight, and you will be stabbing another wound into justice
and freedom. Punish him severely, and you will be helping America sacrifice
one of its citizens at the altar of state domination and oppression.

Rick Stanley never posed
a threat to his fellow citizens, and he never posed a threat to the
“authorities.” He has never exhibited signs of violence,
nor did he threaten anyone with violent acts. He used all means at his
disposal to help freedom and justice. And for that – for daring
to stand up as a lone individual and to fight against tyranny –
he is being punished.

The former USSR persecuted
those who dared speak out. The state punished and denigrated those who
had the courage and integrity to stand up and refuse to be sheep. Those
who dared defy the state were slapped down, abused, denied homes, jobs
and rations.

What are you doing today?
You want to punish Rick Stanley for speaking out. You want to castigate
a man who had the courage and integrity to challenge your twisted regulations
and stand up for his rights as an American and as a human being. You
want to slap down and deny freedom to a man who dared defy the power
of the state.

Is this right? Is it just?
Is it moral?

I urge you to ask yourself
these questions, Your Honor. I urge you to exhibit courage and integrity
in dealing with this man. You may not like his tactics. You may not
appreciate his zeal. You may not approve of his methods. But you must
acknowledge his rights as a citizen of the United States and as a free
human being.

Nicki
is a US Army veteran, who spent nearly four years in Frankfurt, Germany
on active duty at the American Forces Network. She is a former radio
DJ and news anchor and a Featured Writer and Newslinks Director for
Keepandbeararms.com. She is also a former contributing editor to the
National Rifle Association's newest monthly magazine, Women's Outlook
and she is currently the contributing editor to Concealed Carry Magazine
and writes occasionally for the Libertarian Party. She resides in Virginia
with her family. We are also proud to have Nicki as regular contributor
to Armed Females of America and to speak for Armed Females on our position
against gun control and freedom issues.